This disclosure relates generally to the field of hydrocarbons operations. In particular, the disclosure relates to operations for managing oil releases.
This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
In the oil and gas industry, hydrocarbons are accessed via a wellbore to provide a fluid flow path to a processing facility. Some of these hydrocarbon resources are located under bodies of water, such as lakes, seas, bays, rivers and/or oceans, while others are located at onshore locations. To transfer hydrocarbons from such locations, a pipeline and/or one or more different vessels (e.g., ship or tanker trucks) may be utilized through various segments from the wellbore and the processing facility.
Additionally, hydrocarbons may be transported from a production region to another region for consumption/processing into hydrocarbon-based products or from one hydrocarbon storage location to another. Transfer of hydrocarbons between such locations often requires one or more different vessels and routes over bodies of water, such as lakes, seas, bays, rivers and/or oceans.
Offshore leaks and/or spills from transfer operations may be problematic due to the hydrocarbons being released into a body of water. Typically, the hydrocarbons may form a slick on the surface of the water, which may be referred to as an oil slick. At the surface, the oil slicks are subjected to wind, waves and currents, which results in the oil slick being distributed over large geographic areas (also referred to as “weathering”).
These oil slicks may be removed by mechanical and other oil release management techniques. As an example, typical oil release management techniques include in situ burning, oil collection techniques and/or other oil release management techniques. The in situ burning techniques typically utilize booms that are fire resistant to contain an oil slick. The in situ burning techniques typically include steps, such as containing the oil slick with booms, and igniting the captured oil. The burning of the oil produces large smoke pillars because the oil is not burned efficiently (e.g., portions of the fire being low in oxygen). Further, the inefficient burning results in residuals that may require further treatment.
Another oil release management technique is the oil collection technique. This technique typically involves steps, such as containing the oil slick with booms, utilizing skimmers with the booms to collect and capture the oil and then transporting the oil to an on-shore location or larger vessel for processing. As the oil slicks may be geographically dispersed, different size marine vessels may be utilized together, which may involve different oil management capabilities and coordination between the different marine vessels. Specifically, smaller marine vessels may be utilized to contain and collect the oil and larger marine vessels may be utilized to receive the oil collected by the smaller vessels, as well as contain, collect and process the oil. The coordination and operation of these different sized vessels and transport of the collected water and oil introduces inefficiencies into the operations.
Yet another oil release management technique involves the use of floating burners to dispose of the oil slick. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,810 describes a floating furnace that is used to burn oil residues and emulsions floating on a body of water. The furnace is described as including an insulating material that retains heat within the furnace. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,663,149 describes a burner vessel that collects and burns oil floating on a body of water. The floating burners described in the aforementioned patent are capital expensive and fail to provide flexibility in operations.
As the management of hydrocarbon leaks and spills is a time consuming operation, a desire exists to enhance operations to manage hydrocarbon releases with enhanced methods and systems. In particular, a desire exists to enhance the collection and treatment of oil slicks in a more efficient manner. Further, a desire exists for enhancements to floating burners, such that the burning of the hydrocarbons in the oil slick is more efficient and results in less or no residue.